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الجمعة، 4 أكتوبر 2013

Iraqi Prisoners Say Treatment Harsher After Mass Breakout

Iraqi Prisoners Say Treatment Harsher After Mass Breakout

By Rawa Haidar

Prisoners in two Iraq jails say they have had to endure brutal conditions since a mass breakout last year. (file photo)

BAGHDAD/BAQUBA
-- Prisoners in two Iraqi prisons that saw mass breakouts earlier this
year say they are victims of much harsher treatment as a result.

In exclusive interviews with RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq, three prisoners
in Abu Ghraib and Al-Taji prisons said guards have stepped up abuse
since hundreds of prisoners escaped from the institutions in July.

"The food is very limited in quantity and of very poor quality to the
point of being inedible even by animals," said one inmate at Abu Ghraib,
on the outskirts of Baghdad.

"The treatment is very bad, and sectarian. Every other day they come and
beat us with hoses and cables. The sick or injured do not receive any
treatment. We were not allowed any visits; whoever came to ask about us
was turned away. This is how it is ever since the assault on the
prison."

The prisoner's identity has been kept confidential for his own protection.

On July 22, hundreds of convicts, including senior members of Al-Qaeda,
broke out of Abu Ghraib jail when militants launched a synchronized
military-style assault on it and Al-Taji prison, north of the capital.

More than 50 people, including 26 guards and Iraqi soldiers, are known
to have died in the nighttime attack by teams of heavily armed gunmen
and suicide bombers. The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and
the Levant claimed responsibility for the operation.

Those prisoners who did not escape say that they are now paying the price for the ones who did.

'Commonplace' Torture, Murder

Another Abu Ghraib inmate told RFE/RL that previous privileges, such as
receiving food provided by families, have been revoked and that that
punishments are administered randomly.

"Inside the prison of Abu Ghraib, the counterterrorism special forces
beat us and this causes bruises on our bodies but the correctional
officers do not beat us unless there are disputes," the inmate said.

"The special forces beat us randomly, on any part of our bodies that
they chose. Every week they come to beat us, and then they leave," he
said. "Our beatings last from early morning until about 2 p.m. We can
say nothing. We can't ask why."

Another prisoner at Al-Taji prison, who also asked not to be identified,
described torture and murder at the jail as commonplace. "We are
subjected to abnormal torture; they call the prisoners names, then
execute them or spray them with acid while handcuffed," he said.
"Yesterday, they executed four who were in solitary confinement. Also
they once tossed grenades in two cells and killed everyone there."

This inmate also said that after the July assault on the prison the
number of guards was increased. But the new guards, who are reported to
be particularly brutal, wear masks so that the prisoners are unable to
identify them.

All of the inmates' testimony is impossible to independently confirm.
But the common allegation in their accounts is that the Iraqi government
has cracked down on prisoners remaining in the two institutions as if
they were part of the breakout conspiracy.

After the July breakout, some officials have alleged it was an inside
job. At the same time, opposition politicians charged that the scale of
the attack showed that the government had lost any semblance of control
over security, which has been steadily deteriorating across the country
since late last year.

Sectarian, Political Influences

Iraqi officials asked by Radio Free Iraq to comment on the prisoners'
allegations say there is no organized program to introduce a harsher
regime in the two prisons.

"There are many infringements and violations but they are all carried
out by individuals and not by the government; they are not part of an
official policy and we have never denied their existence," said Kamil
Amin, a spokesman for the Human Rights Ministry.

"They are a source of concern; we are talking about 1.25 million
personnel in the armed forces and the police, and it is to be expected
that a significant number of them will abuse their authority as a result
of sectarian, geographic, or political influences."

Abuses within the prison system are regularly brought to the attention
of the Iraqi parliament's Human Rights Committee. But the chairman of
the committee, Salim al-Juburi, said the complaints about abuse were
sometimes exaggerated.

"We have received many complaints, some of which are supported by photos
and video clips, depicting inhumane practices against prison inmates,"
he said. "We do not consider this information as being totally accurate,
but we do assign committees to investigate them further in order to
establish the facts. Regrettably, some of the complaints are true."

Juburi added that any reports of brutality were worrisome because there
should be no abuse in the prison system at all. "Even if abuse is
resorted to during investigation and interrogation, such abuse should
not be used on prisoners who have been duly tried and convicted," he
said.

The human rights organization Amnesty International routinely gives Iraq
abysmal marks for its treatment of prisoners. A report in March said
that "torture is rife and committed with impunity by government security
forces, particularly against detainees arrested under antiterrorism
legislation."

Written by Charles Recknagel based on reporting by Rawa Haidar with
additional reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq correspondents Hassan
Rashid in Baghdad and Sami Ayyash in Baquba